SC245 with 57/08 - Not digging the tone

cfetter

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Hey all, first post here. Seems like a great forum with a ton of knowledge (and more eye candy than my wallet can handle).

Picked up my first PRS which is a 2010 SC245 25th with 57/08 pickups. I LOVE the way the guitar plays but I'm not terribly enamored with the tone. I also have a '13 Gibson Classic Custom LP with the 57 Classic pickups and I much prefer the tone from that guitar. The PRS seems to be a little dark for my tastes without much clarity. There's plenty of bite, but not as much definition as I'd prefer.

I also don't care for the non-linear response of the volume pots. There doesn't seem to be much response in the lower 75% of the turn, then it ramps quickly over the last 25%. I'm in an original rock band and in one song in particular I do octave hammer-ons with a gradual volume swell over the entire bridge. On my LP I can get a great linear response over the entire part. With the 245 I get nothing, nothing, nothing, then bam, all of my volume at one small turn.

All of this to say, I'm looking for insight on what to do next. I'd prefer not to rip all the guts out to start over. I'm not opposed to installing new pups but would rather avoid pots, caps, etc. as well. I'd rather move on to another guitar and let someone enjoy the 245 the way it was built originally.

My rig is fairly simple. It consists of a Mesa RectOVerb 50 head, Egnater Renegade 65, 2 Avatar cabs (2x12, 4x12) with Celestion K100 drivers, sealed). My pedals are simple with a Soul Food, Way Huge Green Rhino, Xotic EP Booster, SupaPuss delay, Neunaber Shimmer/reverb (mono), and a Lehle A/B switch for sends to the amplifiers.

I'm a rhythm guitarist in my band with no desire to shred. Our music is classic-rock inspired modern rock, meaning there's influence of Led Zepplin, Pink Floyd, with plenty of TOOL and Tides of Man thrown in for good measure.

Any thoughts and input are appreciated!
 
Have you tried playing with the pickup height? I'd start there - my Tremonti didn't really come to life until I played with the height. 2010 was only the third year for those pups, and as I recall, they were somewhat variable then. I have a set in an SC245 from 2008, and they seem to be on the low output side.

You don't say, but did you get the guitar used? I don't recall the pots on mine being non-linear. It kind of makes me wonder if they might have been swapped.

Ultimately, if it doesn't work for you, it doesn't work. You're probably right to move it that's the case - most of us have been there.
 
I spent a ton of time messing with pickup and pole adjustments. The neck pickup was horrible when I got it... overdriven and super muddy.

I did get the guitar used. I haven't opened the back to see what's inside (will this weekend). The knobs are correct to original. It was listed as all original and unmodified.
 
Odd, the pots in my PRSes are all very linear; in fact, it's one of the characteristics of a PRS that I like best.

I have the 57/08s on my McCarty Singlecut, and I love them. But we're all different. There's no rule that someone else has to love 'em!

A PRS is a different beast from an LP - they won't sound the same, and they shouldn't. If the flavor doesn't suit ya, then by all means, move it along.
 
Yeah, I hear you. Wasn't really looking for it to be the same as my LP, just not into this one.

Going to play with the pots on the other guys PRS... We have 4 others among the other guitar players in the band. ;)
 
Yeah, can't recognize the pots not being linear - I have the opposite experience!

Also, in my (admittedly limited) experience, PRSs tend to be very articulate, and not muddy. Bear in mind, I haven't played one with the 57/08 pickups.
 
I recently picked up an SC245 with 57/08s too. Dark and lacking clarity is the opposite of what mine sound like, and the taper on the volume pots is excellent for me. Strange. I found the pickups to be very bright and articulate. If it were me, I'd confirm the pickups and pots/wiring are original. Then, I'd start from scratch with my amp settings. Maybe you can come up with something you like with those pickups. That's what I tried. I ended up replacing them anyway. :)
 
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Instead of experimenting by moving all kinds of things around at once, I'd suggest returning everything on both the guitar and amp to dealer spec.

Action height, pup heights, pole pieces to neutral, amp settings to neutral...etc.

Without a true baseline, you have no idea which direction or how far things have been adjusted.
 
I didn't just go crazy on it all at once... I've made small adjustments to try and get something out of it that I like. I do agree that your suggestion is a good one. Would that be a service that PRS would do? I don't live too far from them and have been looking for a reason to head their way.

Also, amp/pedal settings are pretty "mild" and my LP with 57 Classics sounds amazing through it. As do my buddies other guitars (Single Cut Trem, 20th Singlecut, McCarty Hollowbody, McCarty Hollowbody II, American Deluxe Tele, HH Tele, American Deluxe Strat). Granted I don't have as much time on them on my rig and haven't run the pots through their paces so I can't speak to that particular gripe.
 
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It's true, with a used guitar, it may have the original parts, but that doesn't mean they haven't been messed with, or that in 5-6 years something didn't go out of spec. I just played my McCarty Singlecut, and man, it can get as bright as I want it!

Then, too, as TFC said, I learned to set my amps up a little differently for my PRS than my old Gibsons; actually I do them kind of old school, getting a tone I like and a light crunch with the guitar volume around 6, so I can use the guitar to increase both the gain and brightness as I turn the volume up, and reduce it rolling the volume down.

But again...we're all different, hear things differently, have different creative needs.
 
I didn't just go crazy on it all at once... I've made small adjustments to try and get something out of it that I like. I do agree that your suggestion is a good one. Would that be a service that PRS would do? I don't live too far from them and have been looking for a reason to head their way.

PRS has a division in the factory called PTC. They repair, refinish, setup and modify PRS guitars. You could get your guitar returned to factory specs by people from the factory that built it!

http://www.prsguitars.com/ptc/
 
While the 5708 are paf-ish, they're not paf on the dot. I think their velvet bass, lack of aggression and slightly compressed response is very different. I love their full frequency response when clean but with dirt, they're just too soft.

I'd look into Thornbuckers, Lollar Imperials, WCR or BKP
 
You will have to muck about with your amp and the guitar, the sound is in there just need to find out how to get the setup right. It is not a Les Paul and I do not expect it to sound like a Les Paul. It is worth sticking with it, once to get the setup right you will never part with it.
 
A couple folks beat me to the amp idea. Have you tried multiple amps? I was never happy with my SC245 57/08s with my Mark IV. Could not get a decent sound out of it no matter what I tried. With my other amps, it sounds great. But I couldn't get anywhere with the Mark IV.

Wanna buy my Mark IV??? :cool:
 
I have a SC-58 really similar to the SC245 same pickups "for me" both pickups sound best much closer to the strings than I usually run them on my other PRS.
I run the bridge as close as I can and the neck is above the pickup ring about an 1/8 of an inch or so with the bass side a bit lower .
I also use the volume pots more on the SC 58 that my others the middle position has lots of tones available.
 
I have a 57/08 SC245 limited (from the first year the 57/08s were available) and that one neck pickup is super hot and dark compared to all the other 57/08 pickups I've heard (that guitar's bridge pickup is fabulous). Those pickups varied a lot early on, and I can't remember whether they'd gotten them more consistent by 2010. When you're doing those volume swells, is the other volume knob all the way down? If you haven't already, try opening the other one all the way up and see if it helps.
 
My neck PU was horribly hot as well, and I dropped it a good bit to compensate. I'll fiddle with it some more based on the recommendations above. Heading to the studio later and will experiment with it.


That and to try out my new '10 513 that I got yesterday.. WOOT!!!!
 
That's funny, I removed the 59/09's in my guitar and replaced them with 57/08's. The 09's were sounding too dark to me (for whatever reason) and i like the sound of the 08's better. I'm not a fan of unpotted original pickups that everyone seems to be so gaga about. I seen to gravitate to the softer sounding Alnico 2 magnet pickups over the "hot" pickups. I dont' know if that is what they install in the 57/08's but I do know that I just like them.

Oh yea, always make sure you are using a good amp regardless of what you go with and if you are using a tube amp, make sure it is in good repair with good tubes in it. Any guitar will sound better with a better amp.
 
Tone is sooooo subjective. One guy's screamer is an ice pick in the ear to the next. Another guy's warmth is mud to someone else.

If you decide to change the pups, by sure to let us know what you drop in and how it changed the tones you're hearing...
 
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